Frequently asked questions about the NRW Mobility Guarantee (Mobilitätsgarantie NRW)

The NRW Mobility Guarantee is your safety net in local public transport: if your bus or train is at least 20 minutes late at the departure stop or is cancelled, you still get to your destination. You switch to a taxi, a sharing service or DB long-distance trains, pay upfront and can then submit the costs for reimbursement.

Good to know: the guarantee is a fixed part of the conditions of carriage in NRW local transport – in other words, part of the contract you enter into when buying your ticket. If the requirements are met, the guarantee provides for reimbursement. That is not a favour and not goodwill. The transport companies commit to this service without being required to by law – so it even covers more than the statutory passenger rights for long-distance rail travel.

Everywhere in NRW – within the area covered by the North Rhine-Westphalian network and joint tariffs (VRR, VRS, AVV, WestfalenTarif) and the NRW tariff. If your trip leaves this area, for example across the state border, the guarantee no longer applies there.

The NRW Mobility Guarantee does not apply in certain cases. This is the case when the origin or destination is not in NRW, or when there is no departure delay of at least 20 minutes at the boarding stop. Entitlement lapses, for example, if the delay is shorter, if the line in question runs at intervals of less than 20 minutes, or if an alternative line serves the same journey within this time window. The guarantee is also initially excluded when a rail replacement service (SEV) is in place – although the replacement service itself can in turn fall under the provisions of the NRW Mobility Guarantee.

In addition, the guarantee entitlement lapses in the following special cases:

• Severe weather from warning level 3 issued by the German Meteorological Service (DWD)
• Bomb warnings, discoveries of unexploded bombs or upcoming bomb disposals
• Strikes at the transport company concerned
• The effects of forces of nature

Please note that these specific reasons for disruption must have been officially communicated by the affected transport company.

With RechtMobil: We provide you with the current real-time data from VRR, which includes state-wide information for all of NRW, as well as further official data interfaces – so you can assess for yourself whether any of these exclusion reasons apply.

In short: almost all of them. Nearly all local public transport in NRW is covered – city buses, trams, light rail, underground trains, S-Bahn trains, regional trains (RB) and Regional Express lines (RE).

Only a few lines are excluded: the Weserbergland-Express, the Dortmund Airport Shuttle or Airport Express, public transport in the city and district of Osnabrück, and lines within the Euregio Meuse-Rhine in Belgium and the Netherlands. Long-distance trains (IC, EC, ICE) are not your original mode of transport – but you may use them as a substitute (see below).

All NRW network tickets and all tickets of the NRW tariff – whether single ticket, season ticket or subscription, and yes, even the Deutschlandticket. eezy.nrw is included too; here, the price of a regular single trip is deducted from the reimbursement, unless you have already reached the daily or monthly cap anyway.

Yes. The Deutschlandticket is included as long as your trip stays within NRW (within the area of the NRW network/joint tariffs or the NRW tariff). This applies regardless of where and in what form you bought it – for example, also as part of a BahnCard 100.

As soon as your line deviates from the scheduled departure by 20 minutes or more at the departure stop. In the event of a cancellation, the gap until the next service counts: if the next regular connection only departs 20 minutes later or more, the guarantee applies. The decisive stop is always the one where you actually intend to board.

No – that is the most common misunderstanding. You don't have to wait until 20 minutes have actually passed. If the DB app, a network app or the display at the stop already announces a delay of at least 20 minutes, you may switch from the scheduled departure time onwards. In that case, take a photo or screenshot of the display as evidence – created no earlier than the scheduled departure time and clearly showing a deviation of at least 20 minutes.

With RechtMobil: We provide you with the VRR delay data for your specific origin–destination connection and capture the right screenshot for you at the right moment.

One of three options: DB long-distance trains (IC, EC, ICE), a taxi or a sharing or on-demand service (rental bike, rental scooter, rental car (Miles), e-scooter or an on-demand shuttle run by the transport companies). A combination – for example first a taxi, then a long-distance train – is not reimbursed. Choose the nearest transfer point you can reach on foot within a few minutes and travel to the actual destination of your planned trip; that can also be a specific address.

With RechtMobil: We suggest which of these alternatives currently fits your route best and take you straight to the provider.

Within 60 minutes of the 20-minute threshold being reached.

For taxis and sharing services, an upper limit applies per person: up to €30 during the day, up to €60 at night. Whether "day" or "night" applies depends on the scheduled departure time of the cancelled connection – 05:00 to 19:59 counts as day, 20:00 to 04:59 as night. For DB long-distance trains, the guarantee provides for reimbursement without a limit. A first-class ticket is only covered if your local transport ticket was already valid for first class.

No. Only the costs actually incurred and documented are reimbursed – up to the respective upper limit. So you pay upfront, collect the receipts and submit them with the application.

The application must be submitted within 14 days – the easiest way is digitally via the online form (it automatically reaches the right transport company) or directly with the company operating the affected line. You need two things: the receipt for your substitute trip (taxi receipt, sharing receipt or long-distance ticket with the price printed on it) and your original local transport ticket. A taxi receipt should include the name, date, time and route – for intermediaries such as FreeNow, also the invoice, tax and licence numbers. Keep the originals for around six months, as they may be requested later.

With RechtMobil: We help you gather everything. After your trip, you receive an email from us with all the details for the application form and the screenshots of the real-time information – all that's left is to send off the application.

That depends on your tickets. If you travel together on one ticket, a joint application with one shared receipt is enough. But if each person has their own ticket, each person also submits their own application with a receipt for their share. This is worthwhile because the upper limit applies per person: with a single collective receipt for, say, €75, you would otherwise only get back one person's €30 – with three individual applications of €25 each, on the other hand, the full amount.

Unfortunately, the guarantee does not apply here. It only looks at the departure at your starting stop, not at connections you miss along the way because of a delay – not even if the feeder service was already 20 minutes late. The reason: each transport company is only responsible for its own punctual departure. For journeys involving the railway, however, the statutory passenger rights may help in this case.

No, ride services such as Uber and Bolt have no longer been reimbursed since 1 January 2025. Only a licensed taxi or one of the sharing and on-demand services mentioned is covered – so if in doubt, take a classic taxi. If you still read somewhere that Uber is reimbursable: that information is outdated.

It doesn't apply here either – only the delay at departure from your starting stop counts. Delays that arise en route are not covered. For rail journeys, the statutory passenger rights step in instead.

No, an overcrowded vehicle doesn't count. The guarantee only applies if your bus or train is cancelled or departs at least 20 minutes late – not if you can't get on because it is overcrowded.

No. The guarantee is excluded in the event of strikes, severe weather and forces of nature, as well as bomb disposals or bomb threats, because the transport companies have no influence over these. For severe weather, this applies from warning level 3 of the German Meteorological Service.

That depends on which timetable applies. For announced construction work, the communicated replacement timetable – including rail replacement services or diversions – is the benchmark. Scheduled deviations resulting from it do not count. However, if this replacement service is itself delayed by at least 20 minutes, the guarantee applies again.

Only Deutsche Bahn long-distance trains (IC, EC, ICE) are reimbursed. Providers such as FlixTrain and trips in your own car are not covered – so for the substitute, use DB long-distance trains, a taxi or a sharing service.

There is only one benefit per incident. So if you have already made use of the statutory passenger rights or another guarantee, the Mobility Guarantee does not come on top – a double reimbursement may be reclaimed.

Yes. People travelling free of charge on your ticket are included. Severely disabled passengers with a registered entitlement to free travel on public transport can also use the guarantee under the same conditions.

Quite possibly – some networks and companies go beyond the NRW-wide minimum rules. In the VRR, certain subscriptions (e.g. Ticket2000) come with the higher limit of €60 around the clock, including during the day. Düsseldorf's Rheinbahn offers an extended guarantee that in certain cases even covers a missed last connection. Your transport network can tell you which special rules apply to your ticket – so it's worth taking a quick look.

RechtMobil supports you right on the platform when your connection is delayed. In a few steps, we go through the facts with you: do you have a valid ticket for the route? Is there perhaps an exclusion reason or a rail replacement service? And are the connections for your origin–destination combination really delayed by at least 20 minutes? If everything lines up, we show you a suitable alternative and take you to the provider. After the trip, we send you an email with all the details for the application form – including the screenshots of the real-time information you need as evidence.

Yes, as a passenger you can use it free of charge.

No – we act as an intermediary. We show you a suitable alternative and take you to the respective provider (taxi, sharing or rail); you complete the booking and payment process directly there. That way, the receipt is issued in your name – and that is exactly what you need for the reimbursement.

No, you submit the application to the transport company yourself – reimbursement is always handled directly between you and the company. We take the prep work off your hands: you receive all the necessary details and the screenshots bundled in one email from us, so you can fill in the form quickly and completely.

We document the announced delay using the real-time timetable information from VRR at the relevant moment – that is, no earlier than the scheduled departure. This screenshot is exactly the evidence the Mobility Guarantee requires.

No – the transport company ultimately decides on the reimbursement. What we do: we compile the facts about your trip in advance (valid ticket, a delay of at least 20 minutes according to VRR data, no exclusion reason), so you can assess for yourself whether the requirements are met. And we help make sure the application is complete – which noticeably increases its chances.

No. RechtMobil is an independent service and has no affiliation with mobil.nrw, the transport networks or the transport companies.

If you let us take you to a provider and book there, we receive a referral commission from the provider. Nothing changes for you in terms of price or reimbursement. Such links are referral or affiliate links.

We only process the data needed to compile the facts and prepare the application details. You can find all the details in our privacy policy.

The Mobility Guarantee is genuine contract law, not goodwill. It is set out in the conditions of carriage for NRW local transport (section 11) and is therefore part of the contract of carriage – not just a bonus the company grants at its own discretion. It is not prescribed by statute, as the passenger rights for long-distance rail are; however, the transport companies have made a binding commitment: if the requirements are met, the guarantee provides for reimbursement. If you ever feel you have been wrongly turned down, you can contact the Schlichtungsstelle Nahverkehr (local transport arbitration board).

For general questions about the Mobility Guarantee, the mobil.nrw service team and the Schlaue Nummer hotline are there for you. For a specific application, the transport company you submitted it to is responsible – payment is also made there. And if you have questions about RechtMobil, you can reach us any time via Contact.